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I am an awarding winning travel writer for Slate. My work has also appeared in Playboy, Esquire, and The Nation. My first book -- American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch -- was just published by Gotham/Penguin on February 1st, 2007. It is the story of the two years I spent studying kung fu and Zen Buddhism at the Shaolin Temple in China, the birthplace of both. Fox2000 is currently developing it into a feature film.
My website is: www.mattpolly.com
Advance praise for American Shaolin:"I picked up American Shaolin and read it straight through. It is first rate. Polly's book tells more about what's going on in China and has more insights into the real China than anything in recent years. It is a wonderful true-life story with profound, behind-the-headlines observations about Chinese life. A tip of the Stetson to Matthew Polly."
--Dan Rather, legendary anchor of the CBS Evening News
"A sensibility more alien to my own than Matthew Polly's is hard to imagine. I consider foreign cultures to be really...foreign. I don't spiritually quest; I go to church. As for the martial arts, I own a gun. But I loved American Shaolin. Reading it was like being abducted by an alien--a brilliant, funny, and hospitable alien who took me to another universe of sensibility. There I enjoyed myself immensely."
--P.J. O'Rourke, author of Parliament of Whores
"A lot of people talk about becoming a real live ninja and don't do a thing. That's bullcrap. But this guy actually did it! In conclusion, Matthew Polly is the complete opposite of a wimpy baby."
--Robert Hamburger, author of REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book.
To purchase the American version from Amazon.com click on the image below:
To purchase the British version from Amazon.uk click on the image below:
Here are links to some of my articles for Slate.
Return to the Shaolin Temple
Brown Revisited
Caipirinha Nights: An American in Rio
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